This article is from page 6 of the 2009-03-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
RENEWED calls have been made for the Government to abolish its new air travel tax in a bid to protect hundreds of jobs in Shannon and Dublin airports.
Independent councillor and former Mayor of Clare, Patricia McCarthy issued the plea in response to Rya- nair’s renewed pledge to reverse its decision to axe services at the air- ports should the Government decide to abolish the €10 tax.
Ryanair called on the Government to scrap its flat rate €10 travel tax, which is due to be introduced on April | next.
“This tax will further devastate traffic and tourism at the Irish airports, and will result in major cuts to Ryanair’s flights, schedules and traffic at Cork and Shannon airports,” a spokesman for the airline said.
Ryanair recently announced its decision to reduce services at the airports with the expected loss of at least 300 jobs and a fall of two mil- lion passengers. The low-cost car- rier has publicly blamed the negative impact of the departure tax on travel bookings as the primary reason for its move. Cllr McCarthy said the Government must now immediately clarify whether it intends to remove
or at least reduce the tax.
“It is incumbent on Government to explain to the Irish public to what ex- tent the air travel tax is more benefi- cial to the economy than the signifi- cant jobs and revenue generated by the Ryanair services in question.
If the Government cannot justify this tax, then it should be held ac- countable for the loss of these jobs,” added Cllr McCarthy.
According to the Shannon-based public representative, ““Whether this is a manufactured excuse for with- drawing services or not, the airline has clearly said it will reverse its decision to axe services and jobs if the tax is
abolished. I believe that the benefits for the economy in having these serv- ices retained at Shannon and Dublin far outweigh the benefits associated with keeping this tax in place.”
Commenting on the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan’s proposal to exclude smaller airports from the travel tax, Kieran O’ Donnell TD (FG Limerick East) said that the exclusion of Shannon is potentially hugely de- structive for the airport, Limerick and the entire mid-west region.
“T will be bringing this up in the Dail and I am calling on the Govern- ment to include Shannon Airport in the proposed exemption,” he said.